August 2007 News!

EXTENDED SCHOOLS - £1 BILLION BOOST

• Every child will be able to access breakfast clubs, out-of-hours tuition and after-school clubs in sport, music and drama as Ed Balls today announced a massive investment of more than £1billion in the extended schools programme over the next three years.

• Families will also be able to access services such as breakfast clubs, childcare, family learning and parental support, as well as having quick and easy access to specialist services for their child such as speech therapy.
• The additional investment will mean that every school will be offering access to extended services by 2010. It was confirmed today that the programme remains ahead of trajectory with more than 5,000 - or one in five - schools now offering the core extended services.
• Schools can provide extended services themselves, or deliver them in partnership with other schools or voluntary and community organisations, before and after the school day . The £1.1 billion will fund capital projects and running costs to ensure that by 2010, all schools can offer extended services to children such as homework clubs after school; additional sport and music tuition; drama and ICT clubs; or catch up classes in English and maths.
• Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls, said:
  • "As the best schools demonstrate, you cannot raise standards and close achievement gaps without focusing on all the needs of every single child and tackling every obstacle to their learning. Extended schools do just that - improving children’s lives, boosting their attainment and placing schools at the heart of their communities."
  • "Extended schools help families juggle work and home life by giving parents greater flexibility and providing learning and parental support. But above all they give children the chance to take part in fun activities - they can practice sports, learn a musical instrument, have drama classes or simply catch up on their home work. All children should have the chance to learn new skills and have fun out of school hours ­ and extended schools will give them those opportunities."
• Promoting access for young people is essential because research has shown that extended schools boost standards. The increase in pupil attainment in full service extended schools was around double the rate of the national average between 2005 and 2006. At Key Stage Four, the number of pupils achieving 5 A*-C at GCSE increased by just over 5 per centage points, compared to a 2.5 per centage point increase in the national average over the same period.
• Schools can also offer use of their facilities to local communities, where they can access services provided by other organisations such as after-school childcare by professionals; links with Primary Care Trusts to offer access to child healthcare services; parents’ rooms where mothers and fathers can study together or find our how to help their child with their studies; or encourage parenting organisations to offer classes to improve parents' confidence and skills.
• First-year allocations of the £1.1 billion will be released to schools and local authorities as part of their General Sure Start Grants and Standards Fund in the autumn.
• The funding - as well as funding start-up costs - will for the first time support extended service co-ordinators in secondary schools and clusters of primary schools to ensure sustainability. It will also fund an additional one hour per week of teacher-led academic focused study support for secondary age pupils in around a quarter of secondary schools.

July 26th 2007

Physical Education lessons in schools
(Dai Havard MP)

In response to a question from Dai Havard on physical education lessons in schools in the last 12 months, Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe stated that the National Skills sports strategy was a joint initiative with the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the close working arrangement would continue.

Mr Harvard asserted that facilities for families were needed to encourage participation in sport.

The Minister replied that £100 million had been provided in this area.

Watch a sensational video of 32 teenagers competing on the multiplayer dance system.

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